FDA warns about contaminated cookie dough

The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are warning consumers not to eat any varieties of prepackaged Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough due to the risk of contamination with E. coli O157:H7, a bacterium that causes foodborne illness.

The FDA is advising consumers to:

Throw away any prepackaged, refrigerated Nestle Toll House cookie dough products you may have in your home.

Not cook the dough because you might get the bacteria on your hands and on other cooking surfaces.

Contact your health care professional immediately if you or your family have recently eaten the dough and have had stomach cramps, vomiting or diarrhea, with or without bloody stools.

Contact Nestle consumer services at (800) 559-5025 or visit the company’s Web site if you have additional questions about the recalled products.

Nestle has voluntarily recalled all varieties of prepackaged, refrigerated Toll House cookie dough and is cooperating with the investigation by the FDA and CDC.

The CDC is conducting an ongoing study with the help of several state and local health departments.

Since March, there have been 66 reports of illness across 28 states. Of 25 people who were hospitalized, seven have a severe complication called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome. No one has died.

About E. coli O157:H7

The bacteria cause stomach cramping, vomiting and diarrhea, often with bloody stools.

Most healthy adults can recover completely within a week.

Young children and the elderly are at highest risk for developing Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, which can lead to serious kidney damage and even death.